prey Definition

prey
singular or plural noun

1. An animal or animals hunted as food by another animal.

Example: in search of prey
2. A victim or victims.

Example: easy prey for muggers
Thesaurus: victim, kill, target, fall guy (slang), dupe, quarry, mark (slang), game, booty, plunder.
3. Someone liable to suffer from (an illness, a bad feeling, etc).

Form: a prey to something (usually)

verb, intr preyed, preying

1. Said of an animal: to hunt or catch (another animal) as food.

Thesaurus: eat, feed on, devour, consume, gnaw at, hunt, live off.
2a. To bully, exploit or terrorize as victims;

Thesaurus: destroy, seize, raid, pillage, waste, terrorize, despoil, victimize, exploit, take advantage of.
2b. To afflict them in an obsessive way.

Example: preyed on by anxieties

Etymology: 13c: from French preie, from Latin praeda booty.

Info:

A word often confused with this one is pray.